Improvement in harvesting-machines



No. 24,062. l Patented May 17, 1859.

/N vf/v TUR UNITED Sfrmrnsu PATENT OFFICE.

W. S. STETSON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTlNG-IVIACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,062, dated May 17, 1859.

To all 'whom it mer/y concern: l

Be itknown that I, W. S. STETSON, of Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain Improveinentsin Harvesters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact-description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things before known, and of the usual manner of making, modifying, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the several improvements; Fig. 2, a cross-section through vthe saddle-piece'd, and Fig. 3 a horizontal sec- `tion of the device for shifting gear.

My invention consists in a peculiar mode of connecting the finger-bar of harvester-s with the frame-work, and also a peculiar' combina4 tion and arrangement of parts for throwing the machinery in and out of gear, described and represented as follows:

a is the frame-Work, to which the knife-bar b is attached, and this frame-work is hung upon the carriage-axle ot' the harvester at c. The linger-bar b is secured by bolts to a saddlepiece, d, which rides upon an arched projection, e, upon the lower part of frame a. This projection is provided with a check or checkpiecc, j', oi' the form shown in they drawings, which piece passes through a suitable opening', g, in the saddle-piece, and keeps the saddle in place and restrains its motions to the required limits.

Upon the post h, fixed upon the saddle, is a movable thimble, i, to which is attached the handle or lever-bar k, so that the handle may turn about the axis of post h.

Upon the frame is a swiveling guide or ad justing-rack, m, its pivot being at a. The handle k passes through the longitudinal opening in the rack m, and is kept at various heights in this opening by the pin 1'. The purpose of the guide m and handlelcis to adjust the height of the cutters, while the swivelin g of the guidepiece accommodates it to the motions of the saddle-piece as it turns upon the projection e. For the purpose of throwing the machinery in and out of gear, I have adopted the followlng device: As this device is applicable to harvesters of various constructions it is not deemed necessary to show the driving-gear and the connections with the cutter-bar, and for the present purpose we will suppose the drivin g-pinion of a harvester is any way connected with the shifting-bar t, Figs. l and 3. As this bar moves back and forth parallel to its length it carries the Vpinion in and out of gear. The motion of the bar is effected as follows: t is a bar of metal of the form shown in Fig. 1. This bar sli'des laterally upon the rods u, which are supported in the uprights n on the frame a. A forked lever, w, embraces this bar, being pivoted 'to it at a', and connected with each arm of the fork are sliding bars a a2, carrying each two wedges, a3 a4 a5 a6. The bar a is pivoted tothe forked lever above the lever-pivot x, and as the lever is carried toward the frame a. its wedges a3 a4 are forced through between the sides or walls of the rabbet e and the uprights o, and move the bar t laterally toward the rear ot' the machine, and thus, we may suppose, carry a pinion into gear with the main gear or the driving-wheel. The bar a2 is connected below the pivot a', and of course on each movement ofthe lever w its'motion is in an opposite direction to that of a', while its` mode of action is similar, and by the alternate action ot' these wedge-bars the back-and-forth movement of the shifting-har is accomplished. The motion of the linger-bar in its vertical plane is here shown to be somewhat limited; but it may have any extent ot' motion desired in that direction.

- What I claim as my invention and improvement in harvesters isl-. Connecting the linger-bar. to the frame ot' the machine by means of the saddle and its support, constructed and arranged substantially as herein described.

2. In combinaiion with the saddle d, the swiveling guide and swiveling lever k, as set forth.

3. Throwing the cutters in and out of gear by means of the shifting-bar t, constructed and operated substantially in the manner set forth.

W. S. STETSON. Witnesses:

GHAs. G. PAGE, WM. H. HARRISON. 

